Friday, March 30, 2012

Suddenly it’s much harder to find work in Victoria. A year ago there were 3.6 unemployed Victorians fighting for each vacant job. Now there are 4.6.

The dramatically worse odds, revealed yesterday by the Bureau of Statistics move Victoria from being one of the easiest states in which to find work to one of the hardest. Only South Australians, with 4.7 unemployed per vacant job, and Tasmanians with 10.9 find it harder.

The slowdown is the result of a collapse in the number of jobs on offer - from 47,700 a year ago to 40,100 in February - and a jump in the number of unemployed Victorians looking for work from 170,400 to 185,300.

Over the past year the number of Victorian jobs has shrunk 48,500 at a time when the state’s population has swelled 84,000. Victoria’s unemployment rate has climbed from 5.0 to 5.4 per cent.

In contrast the odds of getting a job in Western Australia have continued to improve with only the number of unemployed locals fighting for each vacant job now below two at 1.8.

Although the mining states have the best employment markets, comparatively few of the Australia’s 182,000 jobs on offer are in mining. The ABS says the industry has 9,900 jobs vacant, compared to 12,000 in manufacturing, 14,000 in retail, 16,000 in construction, 15,000 in accommodation and food services and 22,000 in administrative and support services.

Very few of the 31,600 jobs on offer in Western Australia are being filled by eastern Australians crossing the Nullarbor... Other figures released yesterday show in the past year Western Australia’s population climbed just 7000 as a result of interstate migration. It climbed 34,700 as a result of overseas migration.

The direct sourcing of workers from overseas is changing Western Australia’s gender balance. Whereas the rest of Australia continues to have more women than men, Western Australia now has 37,800 more men than women - its widest gender imbalance in a century. West Australian men now outnumber West Australian women in every age group below 70.

Of the 14,000 Victorians who moved interstate in the September quarter, only 2200 moved to Western Australia. Around 4500 moved to NSW and 4400 to Queensland.

Interstate arrivals roughly balanced departures as 5100 new Victorians arrived from NSW, 4000 from Queensland and 2000 from Western Australia.

Victoria sourced most of its population growth from births and migration, gaining 82,600 extra citizens over the year to September, more than any other state. The NSW population grew 76,700, Queensland’s 75,500 and Western Australia’s 60,700. In percentage terms Western Australia recorded by far the fastest population growth, climbing 2.6 per cent compared to Victoria’s 1.5 per cent and Australia’s 1.4 per cent. Tasmania grew just 0.5 per cent.

ABS projections show Victoria’s population climbing from 5.5 million to 8.2 million by the middle of the century and Melbourne’s population climbing from 4 million to 6.5 million.

The Bureau says by 2050 Australia’s population should climb from 22.8 million to 34.2 million. Its highest projection is for a population of 40 million; its lowest for 30.3 million.

If you’re looking for work or looking for men, it’s best to head west. But very few people do.

New job vacancy figures show there are four unemployed NSW residents competing for each vacant job. In Western Australia, the best performing state, there are just two. Only the ACT, with 1.5 unemployed locals per vacant job, does better. But the ACT’s figures are somewhat misleading as many of the people who work and look for work in the ACT live in towns just outside of it.

Western Australia has 31,600 jobs going begging. NSW, with three times the population, has 52,600. But NSW residents aren’t heading west. They are certainly heading interstate. Interstate departures exceeded interstate arrivals 11,800 over the year to September. Out of the 22,000 NSW residents who moved interstate in the September quarter, just 2400 went to Western Australia. Around 9700 went to Queensland and 5100 to Victoria.

In the past year Western Australia’s population climbed just 7000 as a result of eastern state residents crossing the Nullarbor. It climbed 34,700 as a result of overseas migration.

The direct sourcing of West Australian workers from overseas has changed the state’s gender balance. Whereas women continue to outnumber men throughout the rest of the Australia, Western Australia now has 37,800 more men than women - its widest gender imbalance in a century. West Australian men now outnumber West Australian women in every age group below 70.

By contrast in NSW women outnumber men in every age group above 30. There are 64,900 more women than men in NSW.

The NSW population grew just 1.1 per cent in the year to September, well below the national average of 1.4 per cent and substantially below Western Australia’s 2.6 per cent. Although NSW continues to receive more migrants than any other state Western Australia is catching up, recording net migration of 10,800 in the September quarter, not too far below the NSW total of 11,300.

Bureau of Statistics projections show the NSW population climbing from 7.2 million to 9.9 million by the middle of the century and Sydney’s population climbing from 4.5 million to 6.7 million.

The Bureau says by 2050 Australia’s population should climb from 22.8 million to 34.2 million. Its highest projection is for a national population of 40 million; its lowest for 30.3 million.

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comments:

Anonymous
said...

If it's so easy to get jobs in WA why is it that so many of the skilled and able-bodied people that I know, who are currently living in WA, find themselves continually submitting applications yet receive no response whatsoever...